Fawnstar's Life -lCont from Kawaii-Nyan-Kitty'sl-
by Floodtail of FloodClan
Summary: 'Rising quickly from the thunder, all because of a careless blunder, the different times will help her through, but when the tree's wrath comes, there will be nothing they can do; when the things closest to her follow their hearts, she will make a decision, tearing them all apart, The tree will take her by surprise, And all too soon, she'll meet her untimely demise.' "
1. Chapter 1

**_ShadowClan_**

Leader: Bloodstar–– a friendly and small jet-black she-cat with blood red eyes

Deputy: Dawnfoot–– a black she-cat with a bright orange paw

Medicine Cat: Plumetail–– a long-furred orange plump tom with greenish-yellow eyes

Warriors:

Mistymask–– a white she-cat with gray spots on her face

apprentice: Seapaw

Archclaw–– a dark gray tom with greenish-blue eyes

Icyfang–– a white she-cat with bright white fangs

Tinystrike–– a white she-cat with black speckles and long claws

Cindertail–– a orange tom with a gray tail

apprentice: Lightpaw

Bouncelight–– a black tom with yellow eyes

Sandyspot–– a yellowish orange tom with dark orange spots

Dustdrop–– a scruffy light brown tom with green eyes

apprentice: Runningpaw

Leafsplash–– a orange-ish brown tom with gray splotches

apprentice: Willowpaw

Coldberry–– a white she-cat with a bright pink nose

apprentice: Shadepaw

Lionfur–– a thick furred golden tom with green eyes

Nightfeather–– a pretty black she-cat with blueish green eyes

Sageleap–– a long-legged gray and white tortoiseshell tom with green eyes

apprentice: Cloudpaw

Songcloud–– a pretty black she-cat with white paws

Beeflight–– a yellowish tom with dark gray stripes

Stripepelt–– a dark gray tom with black stripes

apprentice: Darkpaw

Yellowleaf–– a yellowish she-cat with green eyes

Fernwish–– a grey she-cat with darker gray spots

apprentice: Flypaw

Pikestorm–– a reddish-brown tom with green eyes

Apprentices:

Seapaw–– a light grayish-blue tom with dark blue eyes

Willowpaw–– a dark gray she-cat with a plumy tail and yellowish eyes

Shadepaw–– a light gray tom with a dark gray stripe going from his nose to his tail tip

Lightpaw–– a cream and brown-colored tom with orangeish-yellow eyes

Darkpaw–– a jet-black she-cat with a white underbelly

Flypaw–– an copper-colored tom with blue eyes

Cloudpaw–– a gray and white tortoiseshell tom

Runningpaw–– a light brown tabby tom with orange eyes

Queens:

Ashflower–– a dark gray she-cat with blue eyes

(Mother to Sandyspot's kits: Echokit, Foxkit, and Cedarkit)

Mousefang–– a dusky brown she-cat with beautiful dark brown eyes

(Mother to Archclaw's kit: Fawnkit)

Jaybreeze–– a sleek and elegant light gray she-cat with silver stripes

(Still expecting Leafsplash's kits)

Dovefall–– a cream colored she-cat with dark blue eyes

(Mother to Pikestorm's kits: Redkit, and Dewkit)

Elders:

Clawsong–– a used-to-be elegant ginger she-cat with blue eyes

Longstripe–– a dark gray tom with black stripes

ThunderClan

Leader: Flowerstar–– a small light gray and white tortoiseshell with blue eyes

Deputy: Addertail–– a thick-pelted white tom with black stripes on his tail

Medicine Cat: Brownleaf–– a pretty dark brown she-cat with brownish black eyes

WindClan

Leader: Flightstar–– a bulky gray tom with startling blueish-green eyes

Deputy: Hawkwing–– a white-pelted tom with green eyes

Medicine Cat: Greenbird–– a bulky light gray tom with light blueish green eyes

RiverClan

Leader: Birchstar–– a ginger she-cat with green eyes

Deputy: Wingpelt–– (temporarily) a thick-furred white and light gray tortoiseshell tom

Medicine Cat: Splashfall–– a slender light grayish-blue tom with sparkling orange eyes

I woke up in complete darkness, different scents coming and filling my nostrils. There was something warm and fuzzy pressing against me. An orange light was trying to peek through my eyelids, so I tried to open my eyes, but found I couldn't. I guess I just wasn't ready.

I put my nose to the fuzzy thing next to me. A wonderful aroma was coming from it, and made me want to eat it. Or drink it.

Sniffing my nose, I tried to find out where the great smelling scent was coming from. When I did, I latched my lips around it instinctively, and started to suck. A magnificent liquid filled my mouth, and I swallowed it eagerly. Unfortunately, the sucking stopped as soon as the fuzzy thing started to shift.

My fur bristling, I leaped back. I wished I could see what the thing rising was. I tried to see through my eyelids, but it didn't work. As I was trying, something cold touched my ear, and after that, something a tiny bit prickly was grooming my pelt.

"Good morning, Fawnkit," a warm and friendly voice whispered, tickling my fur. Fawnkit, she said? I assumed that Fawnkit was me. "I'm glad you're still here."

I tried to say "Where would I be?" but all that came out was a bunch of mewling.

The fuzzy friendly thing shifted again, and when it spoke, it was from way high up, and far away from me. "Fawnkit, it isn't time for the queens and the kits to get up yet! Only the warriors and apprentices should wake up right now. We should go back to sleep."

With that, the pawsteps of the fuzzy thing came back to me, and settled down next to me again. Before long, the fuzzy things breathing deepened and I assumed that it fell asleep.

Almost immediately, I got to my paws. My legs wobbled, and my head slumped down and fell on the soft stuff below. I tried again, this time stiffening my legs. I jerked my legs toward the orange light, wondering where it was going to. No one could really stop me!

Soon enough, I reached the orange light, and found a bunch of more bright light trying to leak through my eyelids. Vibrations reached my paws, and I guessed that there were more fuzzy things walking around near me. There was a tangy smell coming from my left, so I tried to move towards there. Something cold and fuzzy brushed in front of me, blocking my path.

"Well, hello little kit. Are you the famous Fawnkit?" The voice sounding like the other fuzzy thing I met, but a little different.

Seeing as I couldn't really speak, I just nodded. Then I tilted my head, trying to ask her what she meant by famous.

The fuzzy thing meowed, "I'm Bloodstar, the first she-cat leader of ShadowClan since we came to the lake." This was very useful information, but it wasn't what I wanted know. I shook my head at her, trying to tell her that's not what I meant.

Bloodstar's eyes pricked my pelt, but then I could feel realization coming off in waves. "Oh! You mean what makes you famous!"

I let out a mewl and nodded my head vigorously.

Bloodstar began to speak. "Oh! Well, it's a short story, not really the best, I'm sure the elders can tell you better stories, but I can tell you anyway." Not very good? Hey, this was my first story, so I could deal with it being short.

"Just two sunrises ago, Mousefang gave birth to four kits. Three of the kits were still-born, meaning they were born dead. One of the kits was born alive, but just a couple heartbeats later, it joined it's littermates in StarClan. StarClan is the cats that were here before us," added Bloodstar at my confused expression.

She continued. "At least, we thought that the kit that was born alive joined StarClan. The next day, just yesterday actually, Mousefang grieved. She wouldn't let anyone bury her kits, we wouldn't let anyone come near her, not even her own mate, Archclaw.

"But at moon-high, a miracle happened. Mousefang woke up the entire Clan, her voice was filled with happiness. She yowled that one kit was alive. That kit was you, Fawnkit!"

I felt absolutely happy that I stayed alive, but felt guilty that the other three kits were dead, and I was still here. I was sad that I was basically going to be alone my entire life.

The leader of ShadowClan seemed to sense this, because she meowed, "Okay, Fawnkit! Since you can't see, or talk, I will have the honor of escorting you around the camp. You will get to meet all of the cats in the camp, and when the rest of the cats come back from patrol, I will introduce you to them."

Bloodstar positioned her body next to mine, so her fur was just brushing my pelt. She steered me toward the tangy smell, which I had been going towards in the first place before Bloodstar had stopped me.

"By the way, you should know more before you meet Plumetail. He is a tom, first of all, unlike you and me. Second, he is the medicine cat of ShadowClan, (that's a cat that helps other cats with their injuries or sickness,) so he must be treated with respect. It might not be long before he treats you!" Bloodstar said. She also explained a lot of things about cats, and the Clans. She had a lot of time to talk since I moved so slow.

The tangy scent was getting stronger, and after a short bit of walking, Bloodstar stopped, got behind me, and nudged me forward, where it smelled like it was the heart of the tangy smell. Bloodstar came right behind me, and when we were both in the heart of the smell, the leader called out, "Hey! Plumetail! Come meet Fawnkit!"

A different scent wafted through my nostrils, and I guessed that Plumetail must be here. Plumetail's voice was different than Bloodstar and Mousefang, agreeing to how Bloodstar told me that Plumetail was a tom. "Fawnkit? Is she here already? She was only born two sunrises ago!" I felt Plumetail stare at me for awhile, before meowing again. "But her eyes aren't open quite yet. She's already up and moving, so it shouldn't be long before she can see. And talk." I wondered how he had guessed that I couldn't talk yet.

Bloodstar gazed at me affectionately. "Yeah. Well, it was a short time here, but we really must be––" I cut her off by estimating where her paw was, then nipping it gently.

"Fawnkit? What do you want?" asked Bloodstar. I used my tail, and gestured toward Plumetail, then I gestured toward the tangy smell.

"You want to learn the herbs, eh?" meowed Plumetail happily. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you, at least not until you open your eyes." I bristled indignantly, but turned, and brushed up against Bloodstar, telling her to lead the way out by body movement.

The ShadowClan leader obliged, leading me out, and over to a stinky smelling den, like anything in there hadn't washed their pelt for a long time.

As we entered the den, Bloodstar called out names again. "Longstripe! Clawsong! Meet Fawnkit!" Bloodstar, I decided, was definitely full of energy.

I heard rustling and the cats I assumed were Longstripe and Clawsong bustled over to me.

"Is this really the miracle kit?" asked Clawsong, her eyes shining. "Hi, Fawnkit. I'm your father's mother. We're kin!" she announced happily.

Longstripe looked at me, I could feel a sharp gaze inspecting me. "Just yesterday, she was on the verge of joining StarClan," he mewed, "and now she looks like a perfectly healthy kit!" I smiled toothily at him. I tilted my head at him, as if to say, what do you do for the Clan?

The tom elder obviously must have had a lot of kits, because he mewed, "Elders don't really do anything."

"Besides sleep and eat!" interrupted Clawsong, amused.

"Er–– yes," meowed Longstripe embarrassedly. "But we have done our job, serving the Clan for many moons. And it was time that we decided that we needed rest."

Oh. That was a little bit boring, but I decided not to say anything. Not like I could anyway.

"I'm on a schedule," said Bloodstar, "And I promised to introduce Fawnkit to everyone else. We still have the warriors, the apprentices, and Dawnfoot. I'm sure that Mousefang can introduce Fawnkit to the queens, but we have to go already!"

The elders meowed their goodbyes before they settled down for another nap. So Clawsong was right.

Bloodstar and I left the elder's den, me feeling for some reason much more mature, like I was a warrior already. If only I could see all of this, it would be so much better! But Bloodstar shook me out of my self-pity. "Okay, next we're going to see the apprentices, since you're going to be one in about six moons."

A voice meowed, "Well, one of the apprentices is right in front of you!" I jumped.

"Oh, hello, Seapaw," meowed Bloodstar. "This is Fawnkit."

"The miracle kit?" said Seapaw, astonished. "Kidding," he added, "I know that everybody has been mentioning that today. You probably hate it by now, don't you?"

I nodded. Finally, someone who knew how annoying that was!

"The other apprentices are sleeping," continued Seapaw. "Tonight's the night of the Gathering, so we need to catch up on the sleep we might've missed. I'll join them soon, but I can tell you their names." Seapaw brushed against me to guide me to the apprentice's den. I didn't see what was the point, as I wouldn't be able to see them.

Seapaw and I went inside of the den, and clean scents went up my nostrils.

Seapaw meowed, "Willowpaw is in the corner of the den, she's a beautiful gray she-cat." Seapaw sounded embarrassed about calling Willowpaw beautiful. I brushed against him to tell him that it was okay, and not a big deal.

The apprentice looked gratefully at me, and he meowed, "Okay and this is––" His voice was cut off by a yowl from Bloodstar. "ThunderClan! ThunderClan invasion! Apprentices and warriors, be ready to fight!"

I heard the apprentices behind me immediately get up to their paws and rush out of the den. Seapaw stayed with me for a heartbeat, and he said, "I have to go! Fawnkit, get back to the nursery! You'll be safe there!"

My body stayed where it was as Seapaw ran out to join his clanmates. I was completely paralyzed. What if these ThunderClan cats tried to hurt me?

Just as I was ready to make a run for it, Bloodstar's yowl sounded loudly in my ears. "ShadowClan! Attack!" Then I heard a whole bunch of other cat's yowls and gasps of pain. I heard claws scratching, and wails of terror.

I summoned up courage, and bounded into the fray. Immediately I realized what a mistake I had made. For goodness sake, I hadn't even opened my eyes yet! I was a kit! How in StarClan was I supposed to hold off all of these well trained foes?

I heard a pawstep and a yowl right next to me, and a ShadowClan warrior, (I could tell by the stench) fell on top of my legs. I let out a screech of pain and tried to escape, but it was no use. Luckily, the ShadowClan warrior got off of me, and went away, looking guilty.

My feet pounding against the earth, I ran as fast as possible, scenting around, trying to find the nursery where Mousefang was. I cursed myself as I stumbled over a rock. To the Dark Forest with this blindness! I tried desperately to open my eyes, but it was no use.

Without being able to see anything, I ran into numerous pelts, both ThunderClan and ShadowClan. I ran into one ThunderClan cats legs, and, caught by surprise, they toppled over onto me. I felt as if all of the life was just squished out of me, and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to let out another screech of pain, but I couldn't summon enough breath to do so. I was going to die, with a fat warrior on top of me.

I thought about Mousefang, and how both of us had already lost a lot. I lost my littermates, and my mother lost her kits. My mind was positive she would kill herself if I died in battle. In fact, I thought a heard a voice, a panicky voice. "Fawnkit! Fawnkit, where are you?"

I was probably right in front of her, but I couldn't say anything like that. Mousefang kept on wailing my name, hyperventilating, until I felt her eyes fall onto me. Almost straight after she looked at me, heard a body in front of me slump on the ground, and I guessed that my mother had completely collapsed in shock, right in the midst of the battle. Great. How was she supposed to save me now?

The warrior on top of me didn't even notice that there was a small and weak kit under them. They kept fighting their opponent hissing ferociously, and I started lose the orange light that was trying to break through my eyelids. But thankfully, the ShadowClan cat fighting the warrior that was on top of me yowled loudly, and I heard claws scrape flesh repeatedly until the warrior on top of me scrambled off. I heard the warrior that was ShadowClan yowl after the ThunderClan cat as they fled, "Ha! And that's what you get for sitting on kits, you lump of kittypet!"

But the ShadowClan warrior left me, with no breath, all alone so they could go and fight more ThunderClan warriors. I tried to catch my breath, but warriors kept on falling around me, and I was having to resort to rolling and jumping out of the way. I realized that I was probably never going to catch my breath until this was over, so I tried to scramble to Mousefang.

I did reach the unconscious queen, and feeling around with my paws, I found her scruff and sunk my teeth into it. My body heaved as I tried to drag her, (and me,) over to the nursery. There was barely any strength left in me, and even if I had that strength, I wouldn't have been able to pull her a quarter of a tail-length.

Slumping over, I abandoned Mousefang, who was still staring at where I was being crushed by that clumsy ThunderClan warrior. I tried to find a cat, any cat that could help me get Mousefang and take her and me back to the nursery. My mind wandered onto Plumetail. He'd still probably be in the medicine den, waiting for hurt cats!

Suddenly, I felt claws scraping my body, and my sides stung terribly as I felt blood welling up all over my pelt, dripping heavily onto the already blood-soaked ground. Just a couple of more heartbeats, and I might be joining StarClan. Would the StarClan cats know I existed? After all, I had only been born two sunrises ago!

I changed direction, opening my mouth so through the blood-scent I would be able to smell the tangy herbs of the medicine den. I loped the direction of the tangy scent, only to find a screech and me being pinned down. I tried to find words, so I could yowl something really rude at him, but alas, I still couldn't make words. Just helpless little mewls.

The ThunderClan warrior pinning me down had a furious glare; it burned throughout my body and made me try to squirm out of their grip. "What are you doing on the battle-field, kit?" asked the ThunderClan warrior gruffly, and judging by their voice, the warrior was a tom.

"Never mind," hissed the warrior. "I should take you to the medicine cat. It's part of the warrior code, to help kits that are in trouble." Mm hmm, yeah. Now will you hurry up and get me over to Plumetail?! I'm bleeding to death here!

As if sensing my impatience, the ThunderClan tom picked me up by my scruff with his jaws and carried me over to the medicine den, though he kept changing direction randomly. I assumed that the reason was that there were many fighters he had to avoid.

"What are you doing here on the battle-field, Fawnkit?" asked Plumetail, repeating what the ThunderClan warrior had asked me. I could feel the whooshing of his head, dipping his head to the cat, and he thankfully meowed to the ThunderClan warrior, "Thank you for bringing her here, Addertail."

Addertail stared at me for what felt like forever, making me feel quite uncomfortable, and nodded back. "You're welcome. Besides, what kind of deputy would I be if I disobeyed the warrior code?" Addertail hissed softly, as if he had made a mistake in his choice of words. He tried to hurry out of the den, but Plumetail stopped him. "Why are you attacking us? What did we do?"

The ThunderClan warrior growled, "Some cat in your Clan told one of our clanmates that you planned to attack us today. So we got there first." With that, he bounded away, back into the battle. Plumetail was stuttering, before he finally turned and looked at me. "What he said was true, we were going to attack them today. But who told his Clan?"

I shrugged helplessly, and indicated to my pelt with my tail, where blood was still dripping onto the dirt. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Here, I'll fetch––" He padded away, with something that smelled unique; it burned my nose. "––goldenrod, and cobwebs." I heard him smacking his lips as he chewed up the goldenrod. He plastered the pulp against my pelt. It felt sticky, and weird. And if to make matters worse, we fastened the cobweb on top of the goldenrod. I felt really weird and disgusting.

Plumetail meowed, "Okay, well goldenrod is for––" He got interrupted by a voice. Addertail's voice.

"Retreat, ThunderClan! Retreat!"

The ShadowClan cats cheered as I heard the ThunderClan cats' paws thumping against the earth; probably high-tailing it back home. I smiled, and went to see if Mousefang was up from her collapse.

I scented her when I passed most of the Clan. I put my small paw on Mousefang, and felt the slippery substance of blood. She was injured! Then I sniffed, and relaxed. Most of it was ThunderClan blood. She shifted under me, and murmured, "Fawnkit? Are you there?"

I mewled, and that got Mousefang up.

"My kit! My kit, you're okay! Are you injured? I saw you struggling under that fat kittypet, and I was so worried! You're only a few sunrises old, and I wouldn't have born it if you got hurt!" Mousefang chose not to say the word 'killed'. I comforted her by rubbing up against her and purring. Mousefang's eyes softened with relief.

A voice sounded far away from me, but it seemed like it was above my head. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under the Treebranch for a Clan meeting!" I immediately drooped my head. I couldn't go, because I couldn't catch my own prey.

Mousefang must of realized my disappointment because she meowed, "Don't worry, that's just a call. Bloodstar will let you see what's going on anyway." I perked my ears up, and brushed against Mousefang as she led me to wherever the Treebranch was.

Bloodstar's voice rang out again. "In this battle, four apprentices fought with skill and bravery, and deserve to earn their warrior names. Cloudpaw, Runningpaw, Flypaw, and Willowpaw. Come forward." Willowpaw's name was the only one that had nothing to do with flying or being fast.

Mousefang whispered in my ear, "Cloudpaw, Runningpaw and Flypaw are toms. Willowpaw is a she-cat." I heard Seapaw's voice congratulating Willowpaw happily as the apprentices pawsteps went farther away from me, and closer to Bloodstar.

"I, Bloodstar, leader of ShadowClan, look down on these four apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn.

Cloudpaw, Runningpaw, Flypaw, Willowpaw," she paused, and I guessed she was inspecting each apprentice, "do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect it and defend it, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," chorused the four apprentices. I was tempted to say 'I do' as well, but restrained myself. Bloodstar continued, her voice serious, but happy.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Cloudpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Cloudspots. StarClan admires your determination and enthusiasm." There was a pause until Bloodstar spoke again.

"Runningpaw, you shall be known as Runningfoot. StarClan admires your honesty and your patience." Another pause.

"Flypaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Flywing. StarClan admires your spirit and your strength." A pause. Mousefang whispered in my ear, "I forgot to tell you. During those pauses, the leader places their muzzle on top of the newly named warriors head, and the warrior licks their shoulder in return." That explained the pauses.

Bloodstar meowed, "Willowpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Willowshade. StarClan admires your intelligence and loyalty." There was the pause when Willowshade licked Bloodstar's shoulder.

"We welcome you all as full warriors of ShadowClan," Bloodstar finished.

The Clan chanted. "Cloudspots! Runningfoot! Flywing! Willowshade!" I tried to yowl their names too, but eventually I just gave up. I settled on chanting their names to myself. I felt all tingly and warm inside, and happiness flowed in my blood.

And in that time, I knew that I wanted to become leader of ShadowClan.


	2. C-H-A-P-T-E-R--T-W-O

**In honor of kawaii nyan kitty, I am continuing Fawnstar. Though my style may be different from hers, I will do my very best, and I want CC and reviews. Before she left she PMed me the plot, so rest assured this is her... typed through me. We will miss her! :'( For everyones benefit I have uploaded the first two chaps.**

CHAP TWO

I had recovered from my incident fully about eight sunrises later, when I first opened my eyes and found my voice. Now what I did every day was play with my best friends, Redkit and Echokit, though Echokit was normally in Plumetail's den, listening intently to Plumetail droning on herbs and their uses. But Echokit wasn't playing "leader" with us when Redkit and I were kidnapped.

Honestly, it wasn't even my fault this time. It was Redkit's. We were playing outside just like any normal day. Leader was one of my favorite games. This was because I was always the leader, Redkit was always my deputy, and Echokit was my medicine cat, whenever she showed up. Redkit didn't seem to mind always being deputy, as long as he could attack the non-ShadowClan warriors, which is the point of the game.

My eyes were fixed on Bloodstar that day. She was really nice, and enjoyed playing kit-battles with me and Redkit. So I flicked my skinny brown tail, at my deputy, who flicked his feathery gray tail back. I dragged myself along the ground, careful not to let my white belly touch the ground, so Bloodstar wouldn't notice we were there.

It seemed like forever until we finally reached Bloodstar, who was in deep conversation with Dawnfoot, the deputy of ShadowClan. Redkit and I hid in a bush; it was very cramping, and the bush didn't help me catch what Bloodstar was mumbling. The voice in my mind was working up a battle strategy. Dawnfoot was not one of appreciating games, almost elder aged. And even though she had Tinystrike as her kit, and Tinystrike was bouncy and bright, quite the opposite of her mother, Dawnfoot had never found games any fun. I had no chance playing if Dawnfoot was there besides Bloodstar. If I can lure Dawnfoot away, Bloodstar would be open to attack! But how can I do that?

As if to answer my question, Redkit whispered in my ear, "I have an idea. Wait here." My best friend then walked out of the bush calmly, and instantly dropped into a crouch. He stealthily creeped across the camp, swishing his red-tipped ears left and right, until he reached the fresh-kill pile. Redkit then unsheathed a pawful of claws, and stuck his paw into the middle of the dead animals. I couldn't see what his paw was doing, but his leg seemed to be shifting a lot. Suddenly Redkit's eyes gleamed with triumph. He pulled his claw out, and there was a lizard on his paw, and the dead lizard's eyes were dull and glazed over.

Redkit beamed at me, every shiny fang showing, and as if on cue, the entire fresh-kill pile came tumbling down onto Redkit's right. I almost let out a mrrow of laughter at the sight of shock on Dawnfoot's face, but managed to hold it back. Echokit even poked her head out of Plumetail's den, her beautiful blue eyes were enormously widened. Dawnfoot's face was a mesh of surprise and anger; she left Bloodstar's side and marched over to the collapsed animals, scrutinizing it for any sign of who did the deed, for Redkit had again appeared by my side. We both broke up with amused purring. Looking out of our bush, Bloodstar seemed faintly amused, also, her crimson-colored eyes narrowed.

Bloodstar! I remembered what my deputy and I were supposed to be doing. I lightly tapped Redkit on the shoulder with my tail, and he turned and looked at me, his blue eyes gleaming. I hissed at him softly, and used my tail again to point at Bloodstar. Redkit opened his mouth in understanding, and my loyal friend slinked behind me as I proceeded to sneak behind Bloodstar's back. I lifted my tail, then slapped it against the ground, my signal for attack. The leader of ShadowClan turned around, surprised, but Redkit and I had already pounced on her, me on Bloodstar's left shoulder, and Redkit on Bloodstar's back. We were digging our tiny claws into her fur so we wouldn't tumble off.

Bloodstar turned her head to the right, and caught glimpse of Redkit's gray fur. She turned her head to the left, and glanced at my snowy white paws. Bloodstar looked at me like she was saying, "I should have known." I don't know why she looked like that. We had never attacked her before, only half of the warriors, and all of the apprentices.

Our leader collapsed on her right side, breathing heavily. I wasn't the least bit worried; Bloodstar was definitely one for exaggerating.

My friend and I leaped off of Bloodstar at the same time, and walked around Bloodstar's tiny jet-black body so we could both look at her face. I narrowed my eyes triumphantly. "Now do you see what power ShadowClan cats have, kittypet?" I said, laying a single claw on my leader's neck.

Bloodstar glared at me for a heartbeat, probably a tiny bit angry for me calling her a kittypet, but her eyes softened quickly. "Yes, I do," she panted in horror. "If you just take your claw off of my neck, I can run back to my housefolk and never trespass again!" She turned pleading eyes on Redkit.

Redkit pounced on Bloodstar's back. "This isn't the first time you've trespassed," he growled. "You and your friends have always escaped before now. I think you need a lesson, don't you agree, Fawnstar?" _Fawnstar?_ _I just love the sound of that_, I thought happily.

I blinked out of my daze of me becoming leader and everybody congratulating me as Redkit nudged me. I joined Redkit on Bloodstar's (who had gone limp) back, and hissed down at Bloodstar, "I agree." Redkit and I unsheathed our claws, totally unprepared as Bloodstar heaved us off, using her powerful hindlegs, and sent us flying, until Redkit and I were sprawled on the pine needled covered ground, breathing as heavily as our leader was previously.

My leader started to stalk towards me and my friend, though it was hard to see her expression; everything looked blurred as then. She whispered to us, "You might want to practice more." At least she wasn't embarrassing me; that would be so much worse.

"Okay, Bloodstar," Redkit and I mewed simultaneously. Bloodstar ambled back into her den, right as Dawnfoot came rushing up to us, meowing furiously, "I know one of you kits knocked over the fresh-kill pile! Which one of you was it? Fess up, or you'll both have to clean the elders and their den for an entire moon!"

"Don't you think that it's kinda rude that you're using the elders as a punishment?" I shot back, trying to make her back off and leave us be. Dawnfoot's eyes seemed like they were about to pop out in anger, her eyes bulging nearly at the ends of her sockets. But I knew she couldn't say anything else as a come-back, without being even more rude. She is really just a grumpy old cat, I thought privately.

Saying nothing, she stalked away to Bloodstar's den. A dark-brown colored kit with black stripes––Cedarkit–– came up to me and Redkit. "She's going to report you. I wonder what kind of punishment you are going to get! I'll watch, and purr." Cedarkit was really creepy, and he seemed to always be jealous of how I had been in my first battle and not even opened my eyes. Cedarkit, Echokit told me, is one who holds grudges and never forgets them.

Bloodstar stepped out of her den and headed towards us. "I heard that you were being rude to Dawnfoot."

"She's the one that was being rude to the elders!" Redkit snapped back.

"Yes, but––" Bloodstar's voice broke off, and it was horrified. "Badgers!" she screeched. "Warriors! Fight them!" I turned around, and there were two badgers, one with lots of battle scars, but both of their beady black eyes were staring maliciously at Redkit and I. Before I could do anything, even run, the badger with battle scars picked me up, and tried to run out of the entrance. Redkit was facing the same fate.

Mousefang rushed out of the nursery. "Fawnkit!" she cried. "I cannot lose my kit again!" She charged toward the badger carrying me, with Dovefall, Redkit's mother, sprinting right by her side towards her son. Mousefang leaped on top of the badger holding me, clawing viciously, snarling loudly, and some warriors fought by her side, until the badger was bloody and their legs were starting to buckle. Dovefall was trying to retrieve Redkit with some apprentices, because the rest of the warriors were out on patrol duty. Dovefall was just as feisty as Mousefang, and the apprentices were trying their best, but it wasn't enough. The badger holding me grunted something at the other badger, and they ran out of the camp as fast as they could.

Right outside of the entrance, the badger holding me stepped on a twig, and the snap echoed loudly through the forest. The badger holding Redkit repeated the battle-scarred badgers actions. Behind me, back in camp, I could hear Mousefang wailing loudly. "Did you hear that? They snapped Fawnkit and Redkit's necks! They're dead. My only kit is dead!" I hadn't heard anything from Dovefall, but I assumed she had lost consciousness.

With that, the badgers started to race through the pine forest, and several times I saw a patrol. I tried to call out to the warriors on the patrols, but they either didn't hear me, or they were too paralyzed to do anything. I saw Seapaw, an apprentice I had made great friends with, and he was the only cat to come racing towards me, calling out, "Fawnkit! Redkit! What is going on?"

"Badgers kidnapped us!" I called back, and Seapaw slowed to a stumble. "What? But badgers kill, they don't kidnap!" But by this time, Seapaw was out of sight. Maybe forever. I tried to be optimistic. "Hey, Redkit!" I called over to my best friend.

"What?" he called back, but he only sounded half-hearted. "Our kin thinks that we're dead, now. I might as well be dead!" Redkit snarled viciously.

"You don't get it, do you, lizard-brain? Seapaw saw us. He'll tell the Clan that we're still alive!" But Redkit only drooped his head. "What's the point, anymore. Whether we're dead or not, we'll never see our kin again!"

This wasn't the Redkit I knew. If Redkit gave up, then there really was not point in believing, because Redkit is the smartest, and optimistic kit I had ever met. Besides me, anyway. No one can pass me.

...

It was nighttime of the third night the badgers were running away from camp. The previous nights, I had just fallen asleep in the battle-scarred jaws of the fearsome creature. I planned to do the same tonight, but for a change, the badgers stopped lumbering around, instead letting us glimpse at a beautiful river with a cave behind it. My badger took a running start, and leaped over the river flawlessly. Redkit's badger tried the same, but it underestimated, fell in the river, and took Redkit with it.

"Redkit!" I shouted. I snarled at the battle-scarred badger, who was staring at his friend, "What are you doing, you useless lump? Save them! Or I'll jump in myself, and probably die trying."

The scarred badger looked at me with utter shock; probably no kit had ever called him a useless lump. "I can't swim," he growled. My mind registered that badgers should not be able to speak cat. "How in StarClan's name can you speak cat?" I asked, completely ignoring the fact that Redkit was going to drown.

"Does that matter right now?" snarled the badger. "We have to save your friend and my sister." He then thrust his paw into the water, like he was trying to catch a fish. (Archclaw, my father, taught me all of the Clan's hunting techniques.) Minutes he tried that, until I thought that Redkit was unable to breathe and was probably dead, and I was never going to see him again. The badger dived into the water, and immediately started struggling. Just great, I thought. Now I'm never going to get home, and I'll be responsible for three lives. The male badger was floundering in the water, striking out with all of his paws, when his claws suddenly hit the shore, the long weapons sinking into the sand. He heaved himself up, but there was no one in his jaws, so the lives were most likely lost.

The scarred badger was dripping wet, but his black eyes shone determinedly. The badger suddenly pushed his head deep into the water, and when he pulled his head up, there was a black and white scruff in his jaws. In the she-badger's jaws, Redkit was slumped unconscious. "If I had known I could just pull them up with my mouth, I wouldn't be soaked right now," chattered the battle-scarred badger. I let out a scornful purr, but immediately broke off. Was Redkit okay? I at least had to check!

I stumbled over to Redkit and the female badger. I pushed my paws on Redkit, but he didn't move at all, and it didn't seem like he was breathing at all. "Hey!" I called over the the scarred badger. "Can you help me? I don't think they're breathing!" I carefully chose my words so it didn't seem like I was bluntly saying that they were dead.

The badger came over, and sniffed the two limp figures. He then prodded them both with a claw, and they twitched. He pushed his paws onto his sister's belly, gushing the water out of her system. Water and hints of bile arose up out of her mouth, but the she-badger still didn't awaken. The battle-scarred badger gently pushed a toe onto Redkit's stomach, and Redkit repeated the same process as the she-badger, until there was a puddle of water and bile on the sand.

"Disgusting," I noted. The male badger glared at me.

"They both were almost dead," the badger noted back, "And when they wake up, they'll probably have a fever, so I'll go fetch some healing herbs."

"How do you know about herbs?" I asked, "And how do you speak cat? How did you know where to kidnap me and Redkit?"

"Many questions, little one. I'll tell you when my sister and your friend wake up. It's a long story."

...

It was another couple of sunrises before Redkit got better. Every day, I had slept next to him, and asked for the herbs that Redkit needed to stay healthy, tried giving him food to eat, putting moss under his body, giving him water to drink, everything I could do to help him. Redkit was unconscious most of the time, and hadn't even known I was there, but if he had, he would've been thankful.

When Redkit had woken up, he still spent most of the day in his nest, only getting up when I was showing him around the area. He bristled when he heard it was the badger that kidnapped me that saved him, but he eventually grew grateful. We spent most of the time talking about who we wanted our mentors to be, or who would be deputy when Dawnfoot retired, if she hadn't retired already. Redkit and I shared tongues around meal-time, and sent prayers to StarClan every night that we would be home soon.

The she-badger was awake, though she had to stay in the secret cave that the badgers lived in, so I never got to see her. Not that I'd want to. She'd kidnapped us, and nearly drowned my best friend, and hopefully greatest deputy. But one night, while I was sending prayers to StarClan with Redkit, we heard her voice behind us unexpectedly. "You ancestors are not here. They're by the lake, watching over the cats there."

Redkit and I whipped around to see her standing there, looking at the sky. "Hey!" I piped up immediately, one, because Redkit looked furious, and two, because... "The other badger said that once you were awake, he could tell us a story about you and him."

"Dang. That memory of yours is too great." It was the male badger, walking in to stand next to his sister.

"You better believe it!" I told him. "Now, what is your name? I never got it."

The she-badger slipped calmly into the conversation. "I'm Dawn, and he's Dusk. We're Midnight's cubs."

"Midnight?" Redkit echoed. "I guess you're not meaning the time of day. The badger? You're the cubs of the famous Midnight?" He looked awestruck. The she-badger, however, looked amused, and shot a glance at her brother, and it seemed like she was saying, You take it from there. The scarred badger glared at her, and narrowed his eyes as if to say, Me? But you only said our names? Fine, I will.

I was amazed that I could tell what they were saying so well; next to me, Redkit had his head cocked to one side and his mouth gaped open in confusion.

"Alright," Dusk sighed. "I'll tell you." Dawn seemed to be in the most control, I could tell.

"Okay, so back when Midnight was alive, there was something in the Clan's called the Great Battle. You should know about it from your elders. Midnight fought the Dark Forest warriors in that battle, but what no cat knew was that Midnight was pregnant during the fight. So shortly after the battle, she gave birth to me and Dawn.

"Right from the beginning, Midnight told us that we had taken after herself, and could read signs from StarClan and announce prophecies. Dawn and I didn't know anything about StarClan, but we trusted our mother, and what she said must have been true. We tried looking for prophecies, but they just didn't seem to show up. I was getting worried. If we didn't have the prophecy power, then Midnight might've abandoned us.

"We proved ourselves. Like everything anywhere, we got into lots of fights. Midnight was taking a walk by the river, and Dawn and I started fighting over something stupid, but I forgot what. She clawed everywhere, and I was bleeding heavily. But then I clawed Dawn in the neck, and she coughed up blood, but was otherwise fine. After a few heartbeats, the wound was gone. We figured out that we were immortal, but we never told Midnight.

"Midnight stayed with us, even taught us how to defend ourselves. We didn't need to learn, but I tried to fight anyway. I wasn't the greatest fighter, but I kept on trying, just in case I needed to hurt some other animal. Midnight even brought some of her badger friends so they could teach us fighting moves too. But her friends found out that Midnight had special powers, and assumed that we had the same powers too. They left almost straight after, scared of what we might do to them if they angered us.

"One night, a horrible battle-scarred badger with only one eye found our secret cave. He told our mother that he had heard about his cubs. This badger was our father! At first, Dawn and I were delighted to see him, because Midnight had never mentioned him before. But the badger continued to talk. He said that he had heard from Midnight's friends that we had special powers, and that he planned to steal us away tonight and use us to fight away any opponent's that he had. With that, he leapt on Midnight, and tore a huge gash in our mother's neck, letting the blood seep out and dribble onto the hard ground. Midnight was dead.

"He tried grabbing Dawn, but I pushed myself in front of her, and told Dawn to run. She looked at me fearfully, but ran as fast as she could away from the cave. Furious, our father stuck a long claw in my side, and attempted to pick me by my scruff and carry me away. I didn't want that, and wriggled out of his grasp, jumping onto his back. I clawed him furiously, until he was basically bald, and dying the same way he killed our mother. I was amazed that I defeated him so easily, but realized that he probably wanted us because he couldn't really fight at all! With a last glance at my parent's bodies, I fled after Dawn.

"Dawn and I ran to Twolegplace, where almost instantly a twoleg kit found us and pointed us out to their parent's. A male twoleg took out this weird shiny thing with a open space in the middle of it, pulled a weird thing, and a large boom erupted around us. This twoleg was going to kill us if we didn't get out of there, so we ran again, farther into Twolegplace, where a bunch of cats were sitting there, chattering like birds, before one of the cats spotted me and leapt on me. He clawed me almost as bad as I clawed my father. That's how I got these scars.

"Fleeing seemed to be the only thing we could do, so we just ran, and ran, and ran. We came across your forest, where the pine trees smelled wonderful, and there was even a place where we could settle down. Dawn smelled cats here, though, and tried to steer me away. I persuaded her to stay here for a night, because we were just exhausted and could barely move.

"During that night, I had the strangest dream. Later, I realized that it was my first prophecy, and that Midnight was right. But the dream itself, it was just awkward.

"I was back at the cave where we lived, except the dead bodies weren't there. Only I was there, and I was by myself. And when I walked outside, the grass was a luscious green, with dew sparkling on the tips. The sand was bright and golden, like it was the sun contained in those tiny grains. The river was a shiny and deep blue, trickling quietly and calmly until I felt in a daze. Then, a bulky white tom-cat with one black paw came to me. He at first came to me, and saw I was a badger. 'What kind of joke is this?' He asked, leaping on me in a flash and putting his teeth way too close to my neck. I panicked, throwing him off in an instant.

"We fought for a while, though this cat was very experienced and ferocious, though I was not bleeding, and I scratched the black-pawed tom; he was not bleeding either. I was going through pain, but no blood, no deaths. A russet-colored she-cat appeared suddenly next to us, stepping in between our claws and stopping us from fighting. She asked me who I was, and I explained that I was Dusk, the son of Midnight.

"The russet-colored cat looked at the black-pawed tom smugly, who meowed to her confidently, 'Just because we're dead, doesn't mean you can be disrespectful to your old leader!' The she-cat shot back, 'You're right. You are an old leader.' The white tom was about to say something else, but I broke in. I was terrified. 'I'm dead?' I asked. 'But I have to stay alive! Dawn needs me!'

"The she-cat just chuckled. 'No, you're not dead. Just... visiting.' The white tom snorted, but started to calm down, and when he had, he whispered, 'Welcome to StarClan,' in my ear, though it sounded like he was yelling to the starry skies, his voice was all echo-y and loud. He broke away from my ear, and meowed a prophecy:

_" 'You will see the fawn, radiating with light_

_Though where she lives may not be bright_

_Rising quickly from the thunder_

_Because of one careless blunder_

_The different times will help her through_

_But when the tree's wrath comes, there will be nothing they can do_

_When the things closest to her follow their hearts_

_She will make a decision, tearing them all apart_

_The tree will take her by surprise,_

_And too soon, she'll meet her untimely demise.' "_


End file.
